Steve Bird - Pinot Noir - Marlborough
“Big Barrel’ refers to Steve’s unique roll fermentation method in big, 1000 litre French oak fudres. This results in agentle extraction of colour and tannins from the grapes and gives the wine’s magnificent texture. The picturesque hillside site in Marlborough’s Southern Whither Hill where the grapes for this wine are grown is a true hidden gem; a tiny block that's just right for a family operation like Steve Bird Wines. Here, it has produced a genuinely impressive Pinot Noir with earthy, spicy notes in support of the rich, dark-fruit aromas. On the palate it is deeply flavoured and lushly textured with supple, silky tannins. This is a superb partner for crispy duck breast. Variety: 100 percent Pinot Noir
Fromm Pinot Noir
A classic Fromm Vineyard Pinot Noir, a multi-layered wine, very concentrated without appearing big or heavy, with positive tannin support. At its best it shows a masculine charm with a distinct terroir-related identity, aging superbly.
Shadowfax Pinot Noir
Shadowfax have a knack for producing unique wines of great character and complexity. Premium parcels of Pinot Noir were carefully selected for their aromatics and texture. This is wine of grace and intrigue, each layer of complexity only revealing itself ever so gradually. A joy to drink.
Pacha Mama Pinot Noir
This wine is made with Pinot Noir fruit grown on some spectacular vineyard sites in the Yarra Valley, comprising predominantly MV6 clone, with some 114 and 115. Pacha Mama use minimal additives or fining and aim to let the fruit shine through rather than clobbering all over it with heavy oak use or commercial wine-making techniques. Flavours of sour cherry and wild strawberries carry on to the palate complexed by a savoury spice and intriguing earthiness that lingers long after the last mouthful.
Quartz Reef Pinot Noir
Rudi Bauer is part of the reason Central Otago is on the Pinot Wine Map so prominently. His Pinot's show great depth of colour with aromas of forest floor, earth and mouth filling flavours of berry and cherry fruits.
Ten Minutes by Tractor 10X Pinot Noir
Ten Minutes by Tractor continues to be one of the true stars of the Mornington Peninsula all the way from the single vineyard wines to the regional 10X wines. Always a Pinot of utmost power with dense, dark, brooding fruit typical of the region with the great savoury balance that is evident in great examples of the variety.
Quealy Musk Creek Pinot Noir
Musk Creek Pinot Noir is evolving slowly to open up to its full potential. Some spearmint, raspberry and spice aroma; palate is moderate weight, silky and fine natural acid.
Chard Farm Mata-au Pinot Noir
Planted on terraces and alluvial schist based soils formed by the Mata-Au (Clutha) River producing perfumed wines with elegant texture, structure and mineral length.
Chard Farm River Run Pinot Noir
This wine is made from grapes grown in vineyards in different sub-regions of Central Otago. It captures the character of each vineyard giving us bright, fresh sweet fruit with savory and herbal tones and good texture and mineral length.
Grasshopper Rock Pinot Noir
Fruit for this lovely Pinot was selected meticulously, destemmed in stainless steel tanks, and subjected to wild fermentation. Post aging in French oak barrels for about 10 months, the wine was fined and bottled for release. Grasshopper Rock Pinot Noir 2014 shows a medium purple hue, with light pink highlights along the edges. The blissful nose gives off scents of dried herbs, mushrooms, red fruits and violets while the supple palate is packed with black and red cherries coupled with nuances of tobacco, spice and leather. The medium-weighted palate has a great structure and finesse, which mesh well with the fine and grainy tannins to provide a lengthy mineral finale. A suggested food pairing with this wine is smoked hoki.